Ministry preparing recommendations to settle GIDC issues

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (APP): Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Resources is in the process to prepare recommendations for settling the issues related to Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) with different entities.
“The ministry has been given the task, by a special committee of the
Senate, to constitute an internal committee for preparing a draft mechanism to settle the GIDC collection and payment issues,” officials sources told APP Monday.
Accordingly, they said, the ministry was preparing a draft mechanism
to determine that which entities had collected the GIDC from their consumers but did not deposit in the national kitty.
The formula would help categorize and identify the entities in CNG,
Captive Power Plants and industrial sectors, who had collected the GIDC and accordingly paid and those who even did not charge but paid to the
government.
The ministry would submit the draft before the Senate Special
Committee, discussing implementation of report on GIDC-2015, on January 31 in consultation with the committee members.
The body, in its previous meetings, had discussed that the bill should
be treated sector wise and noted that all sectors were ready to pay but not retrospectively.
While, the ministry took the stance that The GIDC Act 2015 as passed
by the parliament provided that the cess collected by the company from gas consumers under the GIDC Act 2011 and GIDC Ordinance 2014 would be valid under the provisions of the GIDC Act 2015.
“Therefore, the question of not paying the cess retrospectively does
not arise.”
The sources said the CNG stations had collected the GIDC as per
notified tariff of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), but did not pay to the government, adding, around Rs 40 billion including the LPS (Late Payment Surcharge) were pending against the CNG sector.
The government, they said, was in negotiation with CNG sector to
settle outstanding amount on account of GIDC, “But, it can not waive of any tax on its own as any settlement regarding recovery of outstanding GIDC, can only be made in the Parliament in a constitutional manner.”